Chapter 303 - 300: The storm is brewing_1

Over the past few days, the actions of Nie Zhenbang and his group had not gone unnoticed by the people of Dameng County. After all, it was hard to miss seven outsiders living in the Red Sun Guesthouse next to the bus station, leaving early and returning late, occasionally accompanied by a local or two. The oddities were first noticed by the owner of the guesthouse.

Fearful, the owner assumed they had stumbled upon a criminal gang and immediately reported it to the local police station. Instead of springing into action, the police station started to quietly observe Nie Zhenbang and his group. To their surprise, they found that the group was investigating the Secretary of the County Party Committee, Feng Dabiao, and his son. This was promptly reported up the chain.

In Dameng County town, in its fanciest commercial district – which, in truth, is just the city center – stands a six-story building with six frontages, strikingly noticeable with its bright white tiled exterior. This is the home of Feng Dabiao, the Secretary of the Dameng County Party Committee.

Unlike other county leaders who reside in the county committee compound, Feng Dabiao and his family moved here since the building was built.

At this moment, on the third floor of the house, there is a single suite that stretches across the entire space, about 300 square meters in size. In the grand living room, Feng Dabiao’s corpulent body is nestled in a leather couch from Yuedong.

Feng Dabiao is around fifty-five years old, but not very tall, standing roughly 1.67 meters. His whole figure suggests a spread sideways.

The fat on his face is consolidated, revealing in his eyes a trace of tyranny, the result of a long-standing control over Dameng County.

“Dad, the investigation team is here. They’re surely here for me. I told you, that old dog Hong is out to get me, but you didn’t believe me. Now what do we do?” Beside Feng Dabiao, a young man about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, also fat, is shouting in frustration.

Both father and son have similar looks – thick eyebrows and a tyrannical demeanor. Feng Dabiao became a father in his middle ages. At over thirty, he finally had a son, and his wife passed away early. Having raised this only son by himself, Feng Dabiao spoils him rotten, thus moulding Feng Tianbao’s current character. In Dameng County, only his own son dared to speak to him like this.

“Enough! I told you not to cause trouble. You can’t simply play around with someone of good family background. If you bump into a strong-willed one, you’d surely kick up a fuss. With so many waitresses at the county committee, you’re not enticed and mess around outside instead. You have no right to shout. Your father isn’t dead yet,” Feng Dabiao roared.

Hearing his father’s scolding, Feng Tianbao, albeit tyrannical, isn’t foolish. He knows his power in Dameng County relies on his father being the Party Secretary. Should his father abandon him, Feng Tianbao wouldn’t stand a chance. Therefore, Feng Tianbao obediently sat down at this moment.

After watching his son sit down, Feng Dabiao said in a deep voice, “Don’t you know who Hong Qingshan is? He’s an old soldier who fought the Japanese. Who knows, this old dog might have army friends who are generals. Making a move on him would be serious. As for now, there’s no solid evidence, your matter wouldn’t cause much trouble.”

Though Feng Dabiao spoke casually, he was deep in thought. The sudden arrival of the inspection team, without any prior information, was abnormal. He was certain he could have received some information from the Dongmeng region or the county. Even from the Ludong Province Disciplinary Committee, Feng Dabiao was confident he could’ve gotten wind of something. However, the current situation allowed only one conclusion – the inspection team came directly from the central government, the Central Disciplinary Committee?

The mere mention of this term made the corner of Feng Dabiao’s mouth twitch. He couldn’t understand why the Central Disciplinary Committee would personally supervise a county official investigation. It clearly didn’t conform to the normal process. Logically, even if they received a complaint letter, it should be transferred to the Provincial Disciplinary Committee for investigation.

Upon this thought, Feng Dabiao decided to maintain the status quo. The more strained the situation, the more composed he needed to be. By giving an impression of calmness and unfazed demeanor, it would suppress certain ill-intentioned people in the county committee. Although he wielded immense power in Dameng County, he realized it wasn’t impenetrable. There were those with ulterior motives within the political system, as Feng Dabiao knew all too well. Once a problem arises, people who previously flattered him wouldn’t hesitate to stab him in the back. Such is reality.

After pondering for a moment, Feng Dabiao turned to Feng Tianbao and said, “Tianbao, didn’t you nurture a group of people in society? Assign a few to probe these people’s intentions. Don’t reveal our connection.”

Keeping a low profile was a good strategy, but it didn’t mean Feng Dabiao wouldn’t make a move. Under these circumstances, it was best to have Feng Tianbao’s underlings do the work. If possible, Feng Dabiao wouldn’t mind contriving an accident to free himself from all connections.

Feng Tianbao, looking excited, immediately stood up. At this moment, what he needed was reassurance from his father. To him, no matter how big of a mess he made, Feng Dabiao would cover for him. In Feng Tianbao’s mind, his father was the local emperor of Dameng County and he, the crown prince.

“Dad, come up with a plan for me. If things get out of hand and someone dies, it wouldn’t be good. Set some boundaries so I can gauge the situation.” Feng Tianbao looked both excited and confident. As for those few people, weren’t they his for the taking? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Feng Dabiao pondered for a moment before saying in a calm voice, “You should decide on how to handle things, just remember one thing. Do not expose our identities.”

After Feng Tianbao left, Feng Dabiao mulled over things before dialing his own powerful connection, Zhai Meixue, the commissioner of the Dongmeng region. On the phone, Feng Dabiao shed his usual arrogance and spoke with great respect, “Secretary Zhai, an investigation team has come to Dameng County. Are you aware of this?”

Zhai Meixue, the Deputy Communist Party Secretary and Commissioner of Dongmeng, and the region’s second most important person, was surprised to learn that an investigation team had been dispatched from higher up. This made Zhai Meixue think. After a while, he answered, “Dabiao, this incident has no information from the regional level. I’m afraid that the visitors might have ill-intentions. Stabilize your emotions and don’t let it affect your balance.”

While Feng Dabiao and his son were making plans at home, at this moment a small roadside restaurant in Dameng County was filled.

This restaurant mainly catered for travelers and merchants, offering them food and accommodations. But at that moment, the only private room in the restaurant was booked.

Inside the private room, the Deputy Secretary of the Dameng County Commission and Mayor, Wei Zhiguo, was sitting in the main seat. On his left was the relatively low-ranked Deputy Director of the Dameng County Public Security Bureau, Tang Yutian, and to his right was Zhuang Zhong, Director of the county government office. Another was Liu Yongjun, township head of Zhaozhuang.

The highest position among the appointed officials present was just at departmental level. You can imagine to what extent Wei Zhiguo had been suppressed by Feng Dabiao in Dameng County.

“Mayor, I heard that a secret inquiry group has been sent from above this time. It seems that we may finally get an opportunity to turn things around. This time, it should be serious against Feng Dabiao and his son. These years, Dameng County has been rendered a complete mess by this father-son duo. It’s high time we had a chance to breathe easy.” Liu Yongjun, the township head of Zhaozhuang, said with a look of excitement.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhuang Zhong, the director of the county government office, immediately poured cold water on their enthusiasm: “Old Liu, don’t get excited too soon. Investigation groups have come before, but what happened? All thunder and no rain. Ultimately, nothing came out of it.”

Tang Yutian on the side also nodded: “Director Zhuang is correct, Old Liu, it’s too early to be joyous. The true identity of the investigation group is still unclear. Moreover, we don’t know about their capabilities. If we show our hand prematurely, what if…”

Tang Yutian didn’t finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear enough. If they got truly involved and later found out that this secret inquiry group was just like any other investigation groups, they would be done for. Given Feng Dabiao’s personality, it would be strange if he didn’t come after them.

At that moment, Wei Zhiguo was also hesitant. Both sides had reasonable arguments. Tang Yutian and Zhuang Zhong were more conservative, leaning towards maintaining a low profile. Though Liu Yongjun’s approach was aggressive, it did make some sense. If the investigation team was truly serious, then exposing their intentions would be worth it, as it would provide a significant breakthrough.

But guesswork is just guesswork. The political system did not afford such risks. If the investigation team didn’t take a firm stand, not only would their previous efforts be in vain, but they would also have to face the strong suppression from Feng Dabiao in the future. The chance of turning their fortunes around would vanish. After hesitating for a while, Wei Zhiguo also decided to choose a more conservative approach. Then he turned to Tang Yutian and said: “Old Tang, you’re with the Public Security Bureau. Do you have people at the Car Road Police Station? Take this opportunity to find out about this investigation group. This will help us plan our next move.”

Having said that, Wei Zhiguo added, “Old Tang, make sure your subordinates are smart about this. They can’t let Feng Dabiao’s people find out. We must be careful at this moment.”

While the two powers in Dameng County were secretly planning and preparing to test the waters, all members of the investigation team were gathered in Nie Zhenbang’s single room at the Red Sun Guesthouse near the bus station. Little Zhao, representing the Sixth Department, reported on their progress in the recent days.

“Director Nie, Director, we’ve achieved significant results this week. In addition to collecting direct evidence of Feng Tianbao’s rape of local women, we also obtained testimonies from four victims. At the same time, we discovered that Feng Dabiao and Feng Tianbao have six private, six-story buildings next to the Dameng County Department Store. Given Feng Dabiao’s family relations and salary level, he wouldn’t have been able to afford these buildings. In this regard, I suggest that we can make this an entry point.” Little Zhao’s report was very organized and straight to the point.

Gao Wei thought for a while and said, “Director Nie, Old Zheng, I suggest we leave immediately. Dameng County is not like a developed city with many transient residents. We’ve been here for so long, to avoid startling the snake, we should leave temporarily. With these pieces of evidence, we can go directly to our comrades in the Ludong Province Disciplinary Committee.”

Despite his young age, it can be seen from Gao Wei’s words that he has rich experience in disciplinary inspection work. Unfortunately, Gao Wei was not aware that there was already a storm brewing in Dameng County.

PS: Unconsciously, this is already the 300th chapter. The shortage of monthly tickets for Old Cai is somewhat embarrassing. From yesterday to now, only one ticket has been received. Please support with a monthly ticket. Brothers and sisters, we mustn’t relax. There are still 8 days left, and we need to maintain our position in the top six of the category. It’s not easy.